Children of the Night
by kurosora1984
Summary: In the shadow of an ancient nightmare, a new story begins. AkuRoku
1. Part I

**Author's Note:**

Lol it is what it is y'all. If it sucks, well…in my defense I first thought of the idea _literally_ a week ago. And I put in a rather full work week in the meantime too, I might add. Be happy I wrote you anything. /grouchybitch

So this is based on Bram Stoker's _Dracula_ (the _book_, and only the book) sorta like a side story. And um, for the record, this is two parts and then we're _done_. No, it will not be continued. ^_^;

Ack, I dunno what else to say, _Happy Halloween y'all!_

* * *

_3 March, Bistritz, Transylvania_

The narrow street through the center of town was invisible under a heavy blanket of snow. The wind howled through alleys and little spaces between the shuddering small buildings that almost seemed to press closer together against the long and bitter winter. A few figures struggled through the snow, hurrying as the day drew to its early close, the light from the hidden sun beginning to fade even further as another long winter night prepared to swallow the village, the valley, the forest, and the mountains.

The smallest of these hurrying figures was making quick tracks through town, not pausing at any door until he had left the center of town. Then, with a sudden turn, he made for the door of the smithy, hauling on its large iron handle and slipping inside, pulling the heavy wood shut behind him.

Even near the door, the heat of the forge enveloped him at once, and the figure immediately began shedding hat and scarf and gloves, revealing a youthful face, pale, golden hair, and blue eyes that seemed almost impossibly bright against the frost-reddened face.

"Axel!" The boy called loudly, forcing his voice to reach over the hammering noise of the forge workers. Several pairs of eyes glanced up at him, most smiling and nodding to him and returning to work. One, however, smiled broadest, the young man waving quickly before calling back.

"I'll be only a moment, Roxas, let me finish this." The apprentice caught a nod from the blond visitor before applying his hammer to the red-hot horseshoe, finishing the form off carefully as the iron glowed duller and duller.

When the shoe was finished and doused in the water bucket, steaming and boiling furiously, the young man turned at last to his friend. It was the end of the day; all the workers at the smithy were finishing their tasks and preparing to brave the cold that stood between them and home. Wiping sweat from his face, the young man smiled.

"I wasn't sure you'd bother to come today, the snow being so deep. Wasn't it over your head?" He teased, resisting the urge to pat the blond hair. His hands were far too filthy at the moment; Roxas would have retaliated with a sharp, well-placed kick if Axel caused him to have to wash his hair unnecessarily.

Roxas gave him a glare that promised a slap in return for the teasing, just as soon as Axel cleaned up. Then he shrugged and smiled back. "Who says I am here to see you home? Father's plowshare should be finished by now. I've come to pick it up." He smiled again to see Axel's grin fade into a look of annoyance. "So remember to bring it for me when you've washed off a bit, and I _may_ walk you home, as it is on the way."

Axel sighed, looking a bit mollified, and relented. With a promise to make haste, he hurried to clean off the worst of the soot and sweat, returning with his outer clothes and the plowshare for Roxas' father.

"See that you're dry first," Roxas reprimanded as Axel began to bundle up.

"Yes, yes, I'm dry, Mother. I'll not take ill." Roxas took the opportunity to slap Axel's arm, following quickly with another slap for the earlier teasing.

"I think you've grown more insufferable since advancing in your apprenticeship," he grumbled, replacing his own warm garments for the walk through town.

"And yet, you continue to suffer me," Axel sighed, smiling.

Blue eyes rolled. "Only from habit, I assure you. A habit formed, I might add, when I was three years old – long before I'd sense to know better."

Axel shook his head, preparing to drag open the door, waving to the other smiths. "Well, _I_ think it just proves that you can't live without me. And don't say you can, because you've never tried." Narrow green eyes mocked him as Axel leaned in, a gloved finger jabbing at his chest quickly. Then, before Roxas could retort, Axel had stepped out into the snow. Roxas followed, and the howling wind and snow put their conversation on hold for the entire walk home.

Roxas didn't mind. It would give him time to think of a clever response.

~o~

Axel's mother called from the kitchen the moment she heard their steps in the lean-to.

"Axel! Is Roxas there? Ask him if he stays for dinner tonight!"

"He stays, Mama!" Axel shouted back without even pausing. Roxas didn't even bother arguing, just moved to free himself of his outer clothing and boots. "I can't stay the night though," he reminded Axel. "Father would like the plowshare tonight so he can finish repairing the plow…"

"I'll walk you home so Mama doesn't panic," Axel answered dismissively.

Roxas snorted. "If you can get her to let _you_ out after dark, either." Axel could only wince; Roxas was all too right. His mother was unlikely to stand for that.

And indeed, after the hot dinner had been noisily devoured by Axel's large family and their usual guest, his Mama set up a great fuss about Roxas leaving.

"No! What can you be thinking? Going out at this hour, when it is full night! Your mother would never speak to me again if I allow it! You stay here."

Roxas was patiently respectful. "Yet my _father_ will be more put out if I do not return with his plowshare. They are expecting me at home ma'am. I must go."

Much more persuasion was needed before the matron grudgingly gave in, and Axel's offers to accompany Roxas were, as expected, firmly disallowed.

"And then what? You walk back alone? No excuse for that, none at all!"

It was only the necessity of not delaying his own father's work that provided Roxas with enough excuse to win the lady over at last.

"Well. Be straight and quick."

"Yes ma'am."

"And take this lantern. You can bring it back tomorrow or give it to Axel."

"Yes ma'am."

"Are you wearing your rosary?"

A suppressed roll of blue eyes. "_Yes_ ma'am."

The lady frowned, then made the sign of the cross over Roxas, followed by two fingers pointed at him – the charm to ward off the devil. Mumbling a blessing and a prayer against evil, she reminded him again to be quick and safe before bustling him out the door so quick Roxas barely had time to call over his shoulder, "I'll see you tomorrow, Axel!" Then Roxas was vanishing into the night, Axel calling back his farewells only to have the wind snatch his voice and swirl it away into the dark.

~o~

In the dark and the cold, Roxas stepped quickly. It wasn't far to his house, and he knew the way with his eyes shut in any weather. Still, steps that began with haste because of the cold sped even faster now…with fear.

He shook his head and told himself not to imagine things. They were far from the mountain and the evil castle here, and it was only a few minutes alone. And he was nearly a man! It was time to be braver at night.

Yet he hurried, and hurried, and knew more and more with every moment that he wasn't alone.

And he wasn't wearing his rosary.

For the first time he could remember, Roxas had forgotten to put it on. He never took it off except to bathe, and not even always then, yet somehow today he had taken it off and left it by his bed. His mother would scold him fit to raise the dead if she discovered it before he returned, but at the moment Roxas would welcome his mother's scolding.

The wind felt alive. The night was breathing. And Roxas was close to breaking into a run to escape the brooding feeling of a presence close behind him.

The wind was whipping at his clothing, tugging and pulling almost like hands – like hands in a far-away place, the hands of strangers. Was the town still there? It didn't feel like _home_ all of a sudden. Roxas tried to peer through the dark, through the swirling snow. He raised the lantern, but the vague shapes beyond it seemed suddenly so faint. His eyes were drawn instead to the snowflakes that whisked past the light, vanishing into the dark again.

A heartbeat, and then another, and Roxas was still watching the flecks of white. Something was strange about them…something off. He could not be certain, but he watched and watched, his steps slowing, pacing forward ever more gradually.

Until he stopped, his eyes entangled in the dance of white within the golden sphere of light.

It slowly crept into his mind – the understanding. The snow…wasn't blowing with the wind. It was moving in the wrong direction, _against_ the wind. And it was slowing, even as the wind raced faster around him. The waltz of powder was slowing, slowing…becoming drifting…beautiful and strange.

Relaxing. Easing to his mind and worries.

His heart slowed to a gentle, calm rhythm. The wind ceased to sting, the cold no longer gnawed at his bones. And the darkness that took shape behind the pirouetting flakes of stardust neither entered his mind nor interrupted his enraptured stare.

The hand on his arm was warm and gentle, the voice that spoke was deep and reassuring. Tranquil blue finally looked up.

~o~

When the door opened, Roxas' father looked up from the finishing touches he was giving to the new coulter on his plow.

"Ah Roxas, been at Axel's for dinner? You have the plowshare for me?"

The reply was soft and slightly dreamy. "Yes, Father. Here it is." The farmer was already looking at his tools again, and he didn't mark how his son almost drifted when he walked across the room. His mother, churning butter by the stove, glanced up to chide him.

"Roxas, get out of those wet things at once, you drip on my floor! Go, dry yourself and get to bed, you are so late coming home, the others sleep already."

"Yes, Mama." The soft reply caught the lady's attention a moment, but her son had already turned to remove his coat and things, and she returned to her work. She didn't look up again until the soft voice called from the loft.

"Goodnight Father, Mama."

Then both the man and his wife raised their heads and answered with their own goodnights, kissing their fingers to their son and making the sign of the cross to bless his rest.

In the dark loft, Roxas stared a moment at the rosary that lay on his nightstand. Then, slow fingers gently opened the drawer and swept the beads and crucifix inside. The blond lay down on his bed, slipping from trance to sleep without a murmur.

~o~

Dawn broke, dark gray and still, over a little village struck with terror.

The holy crucifix that adorned the chapel doors and guarded Bistritz lay face-down in the deep, wet snow.

The priest's horrified cries for help woke the nearest neighbors, and the word spread from them to every other soul in the village before breakfast. The sign of the cross was repeated over and over from house to house, and the entire village's voice was raised in prayer.

"_Our Father, which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name…"_

"_Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death…"_

"_Deliver us from evil…"_

"_Amen."_

Axel heard the stories thrown back and forth all day at the forge. The monster atop the castle rarely came as far as Bistritz, and usually his descent meant the loss of a child. For such things, the crucifix had never been cast down. It had been years since this had happened, but the town's memory was long. An assault on the crucifix meant the demon had come through the center of town, to the very heart of their streets…and he would only do such a thing for one reason.

To turn a Christian soul to his service.

Call them witches, call them demons or monsters like himself. Call them his vassals or consorts or familiars – they were traitors to their God, their country, and their own human flesh. And Bistritz would not brook traitors or demons among them. They had enough to fear from the castle itself.

The entire village would now be watching. Watching and waiting, eyes searching to discover the hellion in their midst.

Axel could remember the last witch hunt, though he'd been young. Everyone knew everyone in the village, and so of course he had known the girl accused. He had watched her face at the trial, seen her scream like a demon when faced with garlic and holy water. He had witnessed the execution. Long, luxurious hair evaporated in the flames that raged around the stake, yet the sound of their roaring could not come close to drowning out the shrieks of agony. The girl's own parents had given her over to be condemned.

The monster of the castle could keep no servants alive in Bistritz.

Axel's stomach was cold as a lump of iron in the snow, realizing that this would now happen again. The monster had descended, and if the convert was found before it could take her away to the castle, she would surely be tried and burned.

It calmed his jitters greatly when Roxas appeared at the forge around midday, bringing his own small parcel of food and joining Axel without a word as the blacksmith and apprentices paused in their labor to eat. Merely having his best friend beside him on the rough-hewn log bench made Axel feel reassured. He needed Roxas' smile to help him shake off the tension singing through his veins, the smithy, and the entire town.

Roxas extended a slice of bread to Axel. "Here. Mama sent extra _panatone_ for you when I told her I was coming."

Smiling gratefully, Axel took the bread, his eyes meeting Roxas' meaningfully. "Thank you. And thank your mother for me." The blond nodded, understanding that Axel was thanking him for more than the dessert.

They ate quietly at first, neither feeling quite spirited enough to tease and laugh. Roxas' solemn voice finally spoke their thoughts.

"It will be the same as last time, won't it?"

Axel reluctantly nodded. "Most likely."

"Yet," uncertain blue looked up at him, "it may not be someone we know _well_, at least…"

"Let us hope so." Axel sighed.

"And pray," Roxas reminded him.

"Of course _pray_," Axel rolled his eyes a little. "We'll not stop praying until the end. And after all," A fond smile finally lightened his face as he ruffled Roxas' unruly blond hair, "_we_ are safe, at least. I'll be fine, as long as you're not going anywhere."

Roxas laughed briefly. "Trust me, I've _no_ plans to go live with the monster in the castle."

Now Axel felt like teasing. "I should imagine not. You are the most frightened crybaby I have ever known. How _ever_ did you make it home last night, all alone in the dark?"

A growl of irritation. "By setting one foot in front of another, you ass."

Axel laughed freely, then sobered. "I am glad you had not stayed any longer…if the monster came through town last night, you might have been out when he was, had you tarried."

His little friend shuddered, pausing before taking another bite of his food. "Don't suggest such a thing! You're frightening me all over again! I had not thought of that," he grumbled.

"Well," the redhead smiled kindly, "you are well, so it doesn't matter." Then, after a pause, he cautiously asked, "You really _didn't_ see anything, did you?"

Roxas shook his head. "A few steps from your house and I soon reached mine. I saw nothing but dark."

A tiny knot of worry in Axel's chest unraveled at that. "Good." The young men returned to their food, finishing the meal. Axel's chest expanded with sudden warmth when he felt Roxas leaning against his shoulder wearily. Reaching an arm around to pull his friend closer, he asked, "What's the matter? Sleepy at this hour?"

A yawn delayed Roxas' reply. "A little," his faint voice murmured. "I'm just rather tired today. Must be the panic in the town…"

Axel smiled as his friend's head rested against his chest. "Well, I think the blacksmith is closing shop early today, so that everyone can get home well before sunset. You can rest here, if the noise doesn't bother you. Unless your father wants you back for something?"

Another yawn. "No, father is still busy preparing the tools for spring, and the younger ones can help him with that. I think I'll wait here until you're done. It's no noisier than home." He smiled tiredly up at Axel, who grinned back before rising.

"Well, take off your coat at least, it's going to get hot in here again." Roxas still wore his coat, open, and his scarf; he'd only removed hat and gloves to eat.

The blond head shook as he moved to lie on the bench. "I'm rather cold still, and this is fine. Get back to work before the smith sees you for the no-good, lazy louse that you are."

Green eyes rolled. "Says the farm boy sleeping in the middle of the day." He smiled, however, and soon left Roxas there to resume work.

And while Axel passed a few sweaty hours hammering at the forge, Roxas drifted quickly off to sleep and never stirred until his friend returned, waking him to go home together.

~o~

Tension lay over the village thicker than the heaviest snowfall of midwinter. Mothers and daughters greeted their friends in the streets and shops with tense smiles and guarded eyes, searching for the telltale signs. Narrow pupils. Sharpening teeth. An injury on the neck in the form of two small punctures. Fearful imaginations conjured these sights a thousand times, before closer, suspicious stares were able to make certain of error.

It would not be long before the villagers ceased to trust their own eyes. Accusations would soon be flying. Women and girls and even men would soon be hauled before a council to search them for any trace of a pact with the Devil, any sign that the castle's monster had touched them.

Sooner or later, the convert of Satan would be found. The execution would be carried out without delay.

The people waited.

~o~

Blackness filled the loft where Roxas lay sleeping, his siblings in their own beds deep in dreams nearby. The shutters were open, and the clouds were slightly broken up tonight, allowing occasional patches of moonlight to pass over the village, filtering through the window and over the sleeping blond.

The moonlight disappeared. Not, this time, because of a cloud. A black shape blocked the window.

Roxas stirred a moment, then slowly rose. Sitting up, he only paused a heartbeat before slipping his feet off the bed and standing. With slow steps, he walked to the window. He paused there, as if listening. Then, with gradual movements, he opened the window.

There was a pause, and again Roxas seemed to listen, not focusing on the black shape just beyond an arm's length away. Then, he spoke in a soft but clear murmur.

"Come."

The next moment, the shape no longer blocked the moonlight – it was beside him in the room, inches away from the boy who stood waiting, blue eyes vacant and dazzling in the moonlight.

The dark form towered over Roxas, swathed in an enormous black cloak. The wind from the winter night outside swirled into the room, billowing the cloak and Roxas' pale night shirt, and tugging long strands of silky hair forward. Like slashes of blood under the moonlight, the strands settled around the two figures, so close they stood almost on the same spot. A soft, deep murmur rumbled from the dark shape, so low only Roxas heard.

"Well done, my pet. Now…let me drink you."

Eyes half-closed, the pale face turned, tipping far to the side and leaving half the smooth, white neck perfectly open and bare before the intruder.

Smooth, that is, except for two puckered punctures.

Moonlight flashed on sharp white teeth as they descended, lips curled back in a hellish grin.

~o~

Within a fortnight, the first accusation was hurled.

Bistritz was already nearly shredded with tension, but no witches had been seen. Then, young Olette Sandulescu, innocently purchasing flour at the general store for her Mama, caught the sharp, suspicious eye of old Dame Vulpes. Before the day's end, the council had been called into session and the young girl apprehended for examining – accused of consorting with the Devil, betraying Christ, and turning to witchcraft.

The poor girl wept and denied the accusations before the inquisitors, yet her claims of innocence did not touch their hearts. There, they said to one another, look at the pale cast of her skin, the sickly color! Look at her too-bright eyes, her feebleness in daylight! Convinced that something was amiss, the poor girl was subjected to the full examination – strip searched by a female examiner for any suspicious marks, a vein opened to check the color and flow of her blood, and garlic, mirrors, holy water, and crucifixes all thrust in her face.

When, however, her blood flowed red and her body appeared more or less pure – at least not unnaturally marked – and when she showed no fear of the objects thrown at her and even kissed the crucifix and recited the Lord's Prayer perfectly, then the charges had to be dropped. Not all the signs need show, but even the slightest taint of evil would show fear of the cross, and no one who met with the Devil could afterwards recite the Lord's Prayer without even a tiny error.

As it turned out, the girl's unnatural coloring was merely the result of an oncoming fever, and after the examiners released her, Olette remained in bed for a full week without rising once. When she did, Dame Vulpes was the first to visit, coming to kiss the girl and bless her, and express her relief that she had been wrong. Olette, ever the generous maiden, forgave her with tears of happiness.

The news spread fast as soon as the council released the suspect. The blacksmith's shop was informed at once, because Roxas ran from the town hall straight there to tell Axel. He had not been able to see the examination, for the council convened in private at first, but he had been waiting in great suspense for his old friend.

As soon as the smithy door opened, Axel left his post. The panting, gasping blond fell into his arms at once, shaking. Fear-filled green eyes searched the wan face of his friend as Axel gripped Roxas' shoulders.

"Is she…condemned?" He did not know Olette quite as well, but he knew her well enough to fear for her, and he knew Roxas would be devastated if she were the one.

The entire forge grew quiet as the other smiths listened to hear Roxas' report. The blond gasped as Axel supported him, then shook his head. "She is…released. She recited the Prayer. They have found her innocent." He choked on his relief then, as Axel pulled him close in a tight embrace, feeling the small frame shake with restrained sobs of joy.

He sighed deeply. Holding Roxas close, supporting his friend, he turned to call to the others, "Olette is released; the charges are dropped." The wave of relief spread out among the men – even though it meant the Devil's convert still remained among them, no one had wanted it to be Olette. She was far too sweet and beloved in the town.

Turning back to his best friend, Axel stroked Roxas' head soothingly, murmuring to him, "Come Roxas, come sit and rest. You are near to collapsing. It's all right, she's free. Come now…goodness you look ill! Don't worry, I'm sure it won't be any of our friends. None of them would ever have dealings with that monster, you know that." Axel kept his voice steady and reassuring as he guided Roxas to a bench to sit down. His brow furrowed in concern – Roxas really seemed to have strained himself running here. His face was flushed feverishly and his skin underneath white with fear, a cold sweat breaking out on his brow. He looked utterly exhausted. It touched Axel's heart to see such pain in Roxas on account of his fear for his dear friend.

"I know," Roxas nodded weakly. "Yet the accusation was such a shock…Hayner nearly went mad with it. I think he's with her now; he said he'd see her home…"

Axel nodded. Roxas' other close friend was courting Olette, and he could barely imagine the torture this ordeal must have been for Hayner. If the one he loved most were accused…

The redhead frowned again. "Roxas, you look terrible. You're sweating…here take your coat and scarf off." He'd already removed the boy's hat for him, but Roxas shook his head and clutched the coat, hunching slightly.

"It's all right, I'm fine. It's from running…I'm really quite cold still. It's freezing out there…"

Running across town hadn't warmed Roxas up? The thought was only momentary before Axel's concern took over. "Well, rest here a while. Your family and mine will have heard from others by now; you needn't rush off to tell them. Rest until you feel better, won't you?"

Roxas agreed, to Axel's relief, and leaned back against the wall, breathing heavily but more steadily. The young apprentice had to return to work then, but he kept an eye on his friend as he worked. Roxas rested there for quite a while before he finally made an effort to weakly rise, calling that he would see Axel later.

The redhead acknowledged the farewell and kept hammering, his stomach tightening slightly with a new worry. The monster's consort was still out there…but his mind had no time for that. Roxas seemed so weak lately…this terrible ordeal might be too much for him. Axel swore to himself that he'd find more ways to spend time with his friend and support him. His smile had been far too weak of late, not dazzling and strong, as before. Axel wanted that smile back with his whole being.

~o~

March lengthened toward April, and the snow turned to ice and rain, driving and frozen and achingly, torturously cold. The days were dark and the nights were black and filled with the sounds of the rain, clattering and splashing and driving against Bistritz.

The souls sealed within warm houses slept, waiting for spring.

Roxas slept, a huddled figure under mounds of blankets. He was often abed now, sometimes early in the evening, occasionally in the middle of the day. His mother's searching eye took in his pallor and the feverish flush to his cheeks, the too-bright shine to his eyes, and pronounced him ill. That his illness never developed into a full fever just seemed to be proof that her great-grandmother's homemade tonic was working. That her son also didn't become fully well again proved that the fever was quite a bad one, and the tonic was doing a miraculous job keeping it at bay.

Roxas went less to the blacksmith's, but Axel came more to his house. He kept Roxas company, whether up and about or too weak to leave bed. He only left for his apprenticeship and to return home at night, and sometimes he didn't even leave then. Roxas' bed was narrow, but then, so were both of the boys. And Axel was encouraged to see that the blond slept more restfully when Axel snuggled up beside him, much as they often had as children.

Tonight, however, he had gone home. Roxas slept alone, curled against the cold seeping in at the window, so biting in the warmer air that it was almost visible, like mist.

In fact, there was a faint mist seeping in now, trickling into the room through unseen cracks around the sash. It grew gradually thicker, an unnatural white fog, and began to pool on the floor, flowing over the boards, around the bedposts, until it surrounded the bed where Roxas now tossed fitfully.

With a sudden, strange twist, the mist began to rise, collecting together and piling itself into a tall column. A column that became dark, rather than white, and gained a form, black and defined – a cloaked figure.

When all the mist had vanished, the figure moved, bending toward the bed. One knee, then the other touched the mattress, and Roxas was surrounded and covered in the darkness, red silk strands dripping forward onto a pale pillow as wicked, sensual lips descended.

The softest moan of pained ecstasy breathed from Roxas' lips at the first touch of the fangs.

~o~

"Roxas, are you sure you feel well enough? It's raining so heavily, you might fall sicker in so much damp…"

"I will go to Mass, Axel," Roxas panted slightly with the effort of dressing. "It would be a shameful display of weakness to admit that illness keeps me in bed two Sabbaths in a row."

The concerned redhead had only stopped by for a quick greeting before the service, thinking that, like last week, Roxas would be alone all morning as his family attended Mass without him. He was surprised to see his dearest friend looking sicker than ever, yet violently determined to get up and hear Mass today. What was more, as much as he worried that the drenching, chilly rain would be harmful to Roxas, he could not argue with the blond's determination at all. Not when Roxas' feverish blue eyes flashed with such a sharp determination.

"The doctor can find no cause of this malady, and no medicine improves it, no matter what mother thinks about her tonic. I will not allow myself to waste in bed without cause like some heartbroken maiden. And Mama says she will ask the priest to bless me today, which I hope may help break this disease."

Axel swallowed, unable to contradict his friend as Roxas struggled into his coat. He stepped forward to help the smaller boy, and at last sighed. "What makes you think a blessing will solve what the doctor cannot?"

The gaze that met his was serious. "It may help a great deal, if I am afflicted with a demon rather than a disease. A curse, perhaps even dealt by the monster's consort. We still have not found her, you know."

It was true. Five more accusations had been cast, three upon maidens, one upon a woman, and one upon a man of thirty-two who had not yet married. Yet all had stood the trials of the council and been released. And each freed soul had only served to tighten the strain on the people of Bistritz. Had they been mistaken? But they couldn't be! There must be someone…where were they? Who was it? How near?

Axel had seen even more of this mounting fear than Roxas, for the blond had been largely shut away for a few weeks. When he wasn't abed, he helped his father with the tools, and he made no trips to the smithy anymore, for Axel insisted upon always coming to see him. The redhead wondered if perhaps Roxas was so determined to attend Mass today simply because he was tired of being shut in.

For that reason too, he could not argue or force Roxas to stay home. He could only help his friend bundle up warmly against the cold rain and assist him through the muddy streets to the chapel.

Carefully, Axel supported his friend as they walked. Roxas' always-small form felt so frail, and he trembled more and more as they neared the chapel. Axel wanted to object again, wanted to pick Roxas up and just carry him back to his home and bed, but he didn't dare oppose Roxas like that. He just hoped and prayed that no one would decide the poor, sick boy looked deserving of an accusation. The whole town had been informed that Roxas was ill, and they were more careful now, after the mistake with Olette – he didn't think anyone would accuse Roxas of witchcraft simply because he looked as sick as they all knew he was. He hoped so, anyway. The thought of Roxas having to undergo an inquisition in this condition was enough to make him ill.

"Come on, Roxas," his voice was soothing, reassuring. "Look, there's the churchyard gate, we're almost there. We'll get you inside and warmed up in a minute…Roxas?"

Axel turned to look in surprise at the blond. Just as they were about to pass the gate into the churchyard, Roxas had stopped dead in his tracks with a sharp jolt. When Axel looked back, his friend's face was the most surprising, however. White as clean snow, with eyes wide and fixed, Roxas looked like a shocked statue.

"Roxas?" Real fear began to creep past the concern in Axel's voice. "Roxas, what's wrong? Come on…"

His ears could barely catch the hoarse whisper. "Yes…I know. I'm sorry, I'm coming. I…I don't know why…" The blond shook his head, brow furrowing slightly. Axel swallowed hard, understanding nothing apart from Roxas' clear suffering, and feeling nothing but his own misery at seeing his friend so tortured.

Slowly, shaking, Roxas forced himself forward with one step as he tried to speak confidently. "Let's go, Ax-_ahhhhhhhhhh!_"

Roxas screamed.

The sound began as a normal cry, then became a high-pitched scream…and then curdled Axel's blood as it changed entirely into a sound unlike anything a human could produce. High, piercing, raw, and utterly impossible – a tormented demon's shriek. Axel was frozen in horror.

Roxas collapsed.

Falling backward, away from the gate, the blond dropped like a stone into the mud. For the space of a stopped heartbeat, Axel felt himself teeter on the brink of fainting as well – for Roxas looked exactly like a corpse in that moment. His face was frozen, eyes and mouth wide with the scream, and Axel couldn't see him breathing. Was he breathing?

He didn't notice the people running, gathering around. He was bent over Roxas in a panic, checking frantically for a pulse. He thought he could see a slight rise and fall to the chest now, but he couldn't be sure. The scarf came away with a quick pull as Axel yanked a glove off with his teeth, and he was about to place his fingers against Roxas' throat to feel for his heartbeat when he froze.

Two angry red dots marked the very spot he'd been about to touch. They were swollen and had holes in the center, and the edges of those holes were whitened and worn-looking.

Axel didn't hear the exclamations of shock in the crowd. He only saw the wounds…and then Roxas' face. What…what was wrong with his teeth? Had they always looked so sharp? No…no of course not…yet how could he not have noticed? Axel paused. How long had it been since Roxas had smiled widely enough to show his teeth? How long had it been since he'd opened his mouth enough to show them like this?

He was still in shock – he didn't understand at all – when the priest came running out, pushing people aside with commanding exclamations that Axel didn't hear. His bare hand came forward and he touched Roxas' cheek. Green eyes were swimming with unshed tears, and the normally confident voice was high and frail like a lost child's, but Axel wasn't aware of these things either.

"Roxas? Roxas…wake up, please. Answer me…please, Roxas, you'll be all right. Just…speak…please…" He didn't feel the hot tears mix with the cold rain on his face.

He didn't feel the hands that pulled him back. All he saw were hands lifting Roxas and taking him away, and Axel screamed after him, "_Roxas!_" and tried to follow, but he was held back and couldn't move.

Couldn't follow.

Could only stand frozen in the rain, tears falling fast from hurt, uncomprehending eyes.

~o~

Gradually, Roxas became aware of his surroundings, but they only confused him. Why was he in this room? His last memory…he'd been walking to Mass with Axel. What were these deep voices all muddled around him?

"_It's the mark, without a doubt."_

"_His teeth…"_

"_Look at his eyes, too. The pupils…"_

"_Bring the things."_

Suddenly, a horrible scent struck his nostrils, like acidic air burning deep into his lungs. His body recoiled instantly as Roxas gasped and choked. Before he could understand the pain or resolve the fuzzy room and shapes into sense, a new searing agony tore through his body.

It felt as though someone had poured molten iron from the forge over his hands.

He felt the scream tear from his throat, but his own voice sounded distant in his ears. His hands throbbed in agony, and all else was blackness for a time. Then, the voices grew louder, commanding. He brought his head up, attempting to focus on the object right in front of his eyes.

When the haze finally lifted and the clear shape of the crucifix filled his vision, Roxas didn't even have time to wonder at the stab of pain that shot through him. It felt like an iron spike had gone straight through his body, his heart. The pain sent the world black around him, and he didn't open his eyes again.

~o~

"Please let me see him! Please, I'll do anything, I'll be in your debt as long as I live! Please, just a moment to speak to him!"

The burly butcher who guarded the holding cell grunted, trying to calm the frantic blacksmith's apprentice. "Axel, you can see him at the public trial tomorrow. The whole town must witness the proof."

Axel knew this, in a far-distant corner of his mind that remembered things like life and rules and sense. He knew that the public examination would be next. He'd witnessed the signs. The council had come out after the private examination. Roxas had not been released. Then, a man – he didn't notice who – had carried a limp form to the holding cell. That was Roxas. The public trial was announced. Roxas was already condemned. The townspeople must all witness the proof, and then the execution would be carried out.

Each fact, each truth felt like an enormous nail in Axel's coffin. He didn't understand, couldn't fathom it – his best friend could not die. Roxas _could not_ be a consort of the Devil. It wasn't _possible_. He just needed to _see_ him; there had to be some mistake! Hadn't Roxas been the one to insist on attending Mass today? That must mean something! No demon would ever voluntarily go to Mass!

"I need to see him alone, Xaldin. Please, I beg you!" Axel was on his knees before the butcher, who looked terribly unhappy about the situation. "Please, just let me take his food in to him! Let me do that for you, I swear I won't do anything else, please!"

He could think of nothing else to say or do but kneel before the guard and beg as though for his very life. If, indeed, Axel would even have begged so much for his own life. Probably not.

A heavy, frustrated sigh. "Fine. Take his bread and water in to him. And don't be long about it. Anything else from you and when the elders are done with you, I'll have a personal score to settle, you hear?" The man glowered threateningly, but Axel only felt as though an angel had smiled on him.

"Thank you, Xaldin! Jesus, Mary, and Joseph bless you and prosper you! Thank you, thank you…"

"All right, fine, get going!" The man gruffly cut him off, shoving the little plate and cup into Axel's hands and shooing him toward the entrance to the small shack that contained only the room with the iron bars.

When the heavy door closed behind him, Axel didn't even wait for his eyes to adjust to the light of the single dim lantern. He went straight for the bars that divided the room, keeping the prisoner away from the locked door.

"Roxas?" He knelt at once, setting the food and drink aside, eyes searching for his friend until he spotted a dark shape huddled in a corner. "Roxas! Roxas it's me, are you all right?"

"Axel?" The bundle unfolded and crawled forward, the light falling on Roxas' pale, haggard face, strained with tension. Axel felt a wave of relief at seeing Roxas and a stab of pain at how ill the boy looked at the same time. The fair face relaxed a bit, however, when Roxas recognized his friend. "It is! Axel!"

His hands were already through the bars, reaching for Roxas' desperately until they were grasped in return. "Oh God, Roxas, what is happening? Why have they done this to you?" Axel felt a sob already building, pushing to break free. His own tortured green eyes matched perfectly with the tear-filled blue ones that stared back.

"I don't know, I don't know," Roxas all but whimpered, the sound breaking Axel's heart. "I don't understand. I'm not even sure what happened. What have I done wrong, Axel?"

Swallowing hard, Axel couldn't hold back his tears. His voice wavered as he clutched Roxas' hands tighter. "They are saying…that you are the Devil's convert that the monster chose. They examined you and…and I think you've been condemned. Your public examination is tomorrow…" His voice broke with sobs. "Oh God, Roxas, tell me you haven't made a pact with that monster or the Devil or anything else! I cannot believe it…you didn't, did you? You aren't evil…you can't be…Rox-Roxas please tell me they're wrong!" Cold metal pressed into his forehead as Axel bent forward in despair.

A warm touch met him there. Roxas pressed his forehead against Axel's in return. "I don't understand…" He sounded so lost, so dazed, that Axel looked up, searching those so-close blue eyes…startled by the narrowness of the dark pupils within them. "How could they think that? I would never, never…! The idea!" Roxas shuddered. "I've never seen the monster or anything evil in my life, and I never want to! Why…why would they…?"

"I knew it! I knew there was a mistake! Roxas, I never believed them!" Axel felt giddy with relief and happiness. "Listen to me," he continued earnestly. "You have to prove it to them. I know you're ill, but you must be strong tomorrow. You must show them you are an honest, pure Christian, and answer all their questions, and say the Lord's Prayer perfectly, just like you always do. And then they _must_ see it's a mistake, and they'll have to let you go!"

"Yes," relief and trust washed over Roxas face, and the boy smiled, a broad smile filled with hope…filled with sharp, strangely-pointed teeth. "Yes, you're right. It's nothing to be afraid of. I can prove my innocence, surely. You're right, Axel. It will be all right…"

"Of course it will," the redhead replied firmly, his voice hoarse. "You'll see, Roxas. You'll be free, soon." The lump in his throat made it hard to speak again, and Axel instead pulled Roxas forward, hugging him through the bars. The kneeling boy straightened to meet him, and they held one another close, almost able to ignore the cold metal between them for a few moments. Axel's worries eased as he felt the warm, slender body in his arms, felt Roxas' heartbeat and the faint touch of his breath near Axel's ear. His scent, too – the familiar smell of his best friend filled him, and Axel calmed. Roxas was alive. Roxas was still Roxas. Everything would be fine.

"When you are free," he murmured gently, "and well again, when summer comes, we'll find time away from our tasks again, like we did when we were younger. And I'll go anywhere and do anything you want. It will be so much fun, Roxas…summer is the most beautiful season. We'll enjoy it together, all right?"

A soft sigh. "Only way to do it. I could never enjoy summer without you."

~o~

The examination took place in the town hall. The chapel would have been less crowded, but it was well-known that nothing evil could set foot on hallowed ground. The large room was cold, but soon began to warm slightly with so many bodies as the entire village crowded in.

Axel stood at the front, near Roxas' family. On the dais were the places for the council, and one place for Roxas to stand before them all. When the solemn men of the council were assembled, the signal was given to bring Roxas in.

It nearly broke Axel's heart all over again to see him.

He looked so small, so thin and pale and weak. Axel could see Roxas trying to remain calm, even as Axel was, but the fear lurked in the corners of his expression. Axel breathed deeply, reminding himself that it would be fine, it would be fine, Roxas was here to show them all his innocence.

Trembling slightly, the boy reached his place. The questioning began.

"_When did you meet with the monster? Did he take you to see the Devil?"_

"I never saw the monster. I never met the Devil."

"_What was your pact with the Devil? What did you promise to him? What did he promise to you?"_

"I have no pact with the Devil."

"_How do you explain the mark on your neck?"_

"I-I cannot. I…I do not know how it got there…I swear, I have no idea!"

"_Recite the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah."_

"Ah…I was never taught…"

"_Recite the Lord's Prayer, then."_

Axel breathed deeply again, in unison with the slight rise of Roxas' chest. This was the perfect chance!

The thin, trembling voice began.

"Our Father…w-which a-art in…Heaven…" Axel blinked, his brows drawing together. What was wrong? Why was Roxas stuttering? Why did he look like the words nearly choked him?

"Hal…hal…" Roxas' voice strained, growing higher as his eyes widened with effort and confusion. "Hal…_hallowed!_ Hallowed b-be My…I mean, _Thy!_ Th-thy…Name…"

Axel's blood was ice the moment Roxas had said the wrong word. It wasn't even a stutter, which could have been nerves. It was…an error.

Roxas had made such a simple error in the Lord's Prayer. What…what did that mean?

"_What is His Name?"_

Pausing as he was interrupted, Roxas hesitated. "His…His Name…is Y…is Y…!" Eyes were going impossibly wide as Roxas seemed to be trying to force out the name of Yahweh.

"Y…Y-Yah…Yah!" Panicking, his voice high and terrified, Roxas cried out, "Why can't I say it? _Why won't it come out? _What is _happening_ to me?"

The stone faces didn't crack as the boy began to cry desperately, but Axel couldn't stand it. Pushing forward as far as he could, he cried out, "Calm down Roxas, it's all right! Just breathe a moment and…"

"Silence!" The acting magistrate glared at him angrily, then turned to the man acting as bailiff. "Bring the articles." The man nodded and was soon back.

Axel couldn't look away. His insides were pure ice, frozen in dread now, but his mind was still lost, hovering in denial.

A simple clove of garlic was held before Roxas' face. The boy began to gag and retch and withdraw with a violence that was shocking.

Then, holy water was sprinkled on the boy's hands. The shriek Roxas released put the one from the day before to shame. Axel jumped and covered his ears against the agonizing, inhuman sound. His eyes remained on Roxas, however. On Roxas writhing in torment and scratching at his hands as if they were on fire.

It was some time before he could be quieted and made to look at the crucifix.

When he beheld it, the howl that tore from the small young man sounded like the rage of a thousand demons.

Axel wept. Roxas was hurting, and he felt every stab of pain as his own. And Roxas was damning himself with every moment, and Axel didn't understand. Couldn't believe it.

The blond seemed as incredulous himself. Gasping with the agony of the trials, tears streamed from his eyes. "Why?" He sobbed. "Why? Hurts…I don't understand…what is wrong with me?"

The last object to come forward was a mirror. It was held up before Roxas, and Axel didn't know what the boy saw in it, only that the mirror showed the truth, or so the belief went.

Roxas collapsed in a dead faint.

There were pronouncements from the council and a unified response from the gathered townspeople, but Axel's world was soundless and sightless except for Roxas.

"_Though it is tradition to burn a convicted witch, the weather prohibits a sufficiently lethal fire. Therefore, the carpenter has constructed a makeshift gallows, and the prisoner is hereby sentenced to hang on it by the neck until dead. May God have mercy on his soul."_

~o~

Only family were permitted near the condemned. Axel watched in horror as Roxas' mother, father, and siblings all bid him a guarded farewell before the rickety gallows. The rain poured down as if trying to hide his best friend from sight, but Axel pressed forward. And he pressed forward. And strong arms held him back, and he didn't care if the town would now wonder if the witch had a companion in his Satan worship, because he had to get to Roxas, had to stop them, make them see he was innocent, he was innocent, he was…_He is my best friend, he is my life, don't take my life away from me, let me take his place, let me…let me…_

Through the blur of streaming tears he saw Roxas led onto the scaffold. He saw the horrible, disgusting rope placed around his neck. And he saw Roxas' eyes, his perfect blue eyes as they met his own, and they were filled with tears and blank, uncomprehending terror.

And Axel was screaming.

_Stop it don't hurt him stop stop don't do that leave him alone stop it stop stop stop stop…!_

And Roxas was crying.

And blue eyes were calling to him, calling, calling, begging him to help, save him…

As the executioner moved to kick away Roxas' support, Axel went wild, frenzied…

_Stop stop no don't no no Roxas no no no no __**Roxas!**_

…And then the world crashed into blackness as pain exploded behind his eyes, someone knocking him out before he could break free.

He never saw Roxas die.

~o~

When Axel woke, he was at home, drenched and shivering, and his mother was solemnly tending to him, drying his wet face and preparing to get him out of his soaked clothing.

With a gasp, he sat straight up. "Roxas!"

His mother's strong hands latched onto his arms, pushing him back again. "Shhh, Axel. It is over. They take him to be buried. Now let me get this shirt off…"

He violently threw her off. "What are you talking about?" Incredulous, angry, his voice a rasping whisper as he stared at her surprised face. "What are you saying?" His voice was rising, becoming a yell. "Roxas needs me; I have to go help him! Where is he, where's Roxas?"

He felt himself pushed back again, but he fought her without even thinking. "Axel! He is dead, Axel, calm down!"

"_No!_" He screamed, panicked, struggling to get away. "I have to help him…!"

His mother's hands grasped his face, holding him still as her voice grew hard and her eyes drilled into his. "Axel. He is dead. The whole town saw. He hangs a quarter of an hour after he moved no more. They take him down and there was no breath, no pulse. He was cold. Roxas is dead, Axel. He is in his coffin and soon his grave. You never see him again."

Her voice cracked and tears of pity filled her eyes, but Axel didn't see these things. Firmly, he removed her hands and met her gaze with a hard, frantic one of his own. His voice was low and not quite steady when he answered.

"Roxas can't die. Roxas can never, never die. We're going to spend the summer together. He's my best friend. He's never had a wicked thought in his life. He _can't die_. Now. _Tell me where he is._" His words were cold, deliberate, and terribly intense. His mother backed away, eyes wide.

"You know they take him to an unmarked grave out of town, Axel…he cannot rest in hallowed soil…"

His feet were under him, and Axel was gone. Out the door and into the rain.

The streets were nearly empty of people, except for the carpenter, now taking down the scaffold. Axel didn't hesitate – he raced forward, grabbed the man by his coat, and demanded in his face, "Which way did they go?"

Momentarily frightened by the sudden fury, the carpenter stammered and pointed. "T-toward the hills in th-that direction…wh-why?"

But Axel had already dropped him and vanished, racing toward the hills. He had to get there before it was too late, had to save Roxas from being buried like some corpse, had to, had to…

He couldn't see far in the driving rain, but he found tracks in the mud on the main road out of town, and he latched onto them like a hunting dog finding a scent. He followed them through the rain, onto narrower and narrower trails into the hills, and he didn't feel the cold. He ran and ran until he couldn't run anymore, and then he tripped and slipped in the mud, hurrying and gasping and stretching forward with everything in him.

At last, he caught sight of motion ahead, and his stumbling steps quickened again automatically. Hurrying forward, he could see half a dozen men of the village…but no Roxas. The men were just turning away from a large stone slab that leaned against an incline in the ragged, hilly terrain. They stopped when they saw Axel.

"Where is he?" He gasped, unaware of his shaking hands or failing legs or broken voice. A face he might have recognized as the blacksmith, his master, came forward, and a heavy hand was laid on his shoulder.

"It's over, Axel. We've sealed his tomb already. You know it must remain unmarked."

Shaking him off, Axel focused on the stone. It was three-fourths of his height, and looked to have been placed over the opening of a small cave. He stepped forward quickly, laying his hands in disbelief against its frozen surface.

"He's here?" His voice was a soft gasp of utter shock. "You put him in _here?_"

The hand touched him again, but it didn't feel comforting – it was heavy, so heavy. "He's gone, Axel. You'll never see him again. Come back to town now, before you freeze to death."

For a long moment, his mouth struggled uselessly. He couldn't think of words past the floods of emotion that kept washing over him, drowning him in each one. Shock at the thought of Roxas in this hole, fury at the men for putting him here, and then agony, sharp and unbearable, as the reality began to sink in.

Roxas was dead. Gone. Forever.

"Axel…"

"Leave me." His voice was so frail he wasn't sure it had been heard, so he swallowed hard and tried again. "Leave…I will return later. Leave me alone for now."

Murmuring voices consulted with each other, debating what to do. In the end, it seemed they agreed to give the boy some time, because the steps faded away.

Axel sank to his knees in the mud, hands and forehead against ice cold stone.

For the longest time, it was silent. Only the sound of cold, endless rain pouring from the dark slate sky surrounded him. Green eyes were sightless, unfocused on the rough surface only an inch away. Numb thoughts circled endlessly through Axel's mind. _It isn't really true, he isn't gone, he can't be, it isn't true…_

Hot tears welled in his eyes as Axel fought the harsh, bitter evidence before him. His heart screamed that there had been some mistake, he hadn't seen Roxas die, so it couldn't have happened!

"Roxas." His voice was only a whisper. "Roxas…come back. Come out of there, Roxas…please. S-summer will be here s-soon, you have to come back and tell me what you want to do. We…we have to always be together. We…we've never been apart since we were born…we have to stay together forever. You have to come back and…and we can grow up and…and grow old." His voice was growing more uneven, sobs shaking his body more than the cold. "I need you to…to stay beside me when I'm old and ugly. We have to sit at the tavern together and complain and tell stories like our grandfathers and…and I won't ever care if your nose gets huge or your hair falls out or you get a big stomach and smell like stale tobacco. Because…because…" The words had become of cry of anguish. "You'll always be my best friend…"

Axel fell forward, collapsing against the stone and sobbing, unrestrained and utterly, completely brokenhearted.

Roxas didn't come out.

The silence of death had truly closed between them.

_Continued…_

~o~


	2. Part II

Axel dreamed, and in his dreams, Roxas was alive.

The golden light of summer surrounded him, and he was in a warm field. There were voices and people and possibly something going on, but all he saw was Roxas.

Roxas smiling at him, laughing and speaking, saying something about going fishing tomorrow. And then, for no reason he could see – not that Axel cared – Roxas was holding him.

There were no bars between them and Roxas felt well and strong and warm, and Axel felt unbearably happy. And then the scent hit him – Roxas' scent, just the same as always – and the redhead clutched his best friend tighter and felt tears falling from his eyes.

He already had a vague, tingling sense that it wasn't real…but Axel never, ever wanted it to end.

~o~

When he woke, he was in bed at home. He tried to sit up when he heard sounds in the room, but fell back at once, a wave of dizziness and nausea hitting him. As if from far away, he heard a voice, felt a presence by the bed.

"Ah, you wake up? Stay still, Axel, you need to rest. I get the doctor."

_Doctor? What?_ His thoughts were hazy. He guessed that had been his mother, but everything was growing dark again, and he didn't fight it. He wanted to go back to Roxas…

He was sleeping fitfully again by the time the doctor returned.

~o~

For two weeks, Axel was bedridden. As he learned from his mother upon waking a second time, he had a bad case of pneumonia. In bits and pieces of consciousness over the next day or so, he heard that he had never returned to the town, and finally a few men had gone back for him, only to find him unconscious in the rain, almost frozen to death. He had been asleep for two days before first waking.

Axel didn't care. He listened and acknowledged his mother, but all he wanted was to sleep again. Let the blackness wash over him like a warm touch and remove him from the miserable sick bed. Sleep, and sleep, grudging every waking moment.

Because, when he slept, he was always, always with Roxas.

Smiling, laughing, talking, sitting together, eating, playing, and often holding each other close – it was all too real and vivid. The warmth lingered on his skin, even when he woke, and the scent of Roxas haunted him constantly, until he was half sure that waking to find himself sick was only a nightmare he was having while living his normal life happily with Roxas. And he wished the nightmare would go away; it was extremely annoying.

After two weeks, Axel was able to get up again. Or so the doctor said, and his worn-out mother saw to it that Axel demonstrated his ability to stand up and walk about. But as soon as she left him alone, he was seeking sleep again, lying down wherever he was or creeping back to bed. Chasing after dreams…because the gnawing, horrible emptiness of his waking hours was eating him from the inside out.

His eyes dried out and replenished their tears again and again. His face remained pale and drawn, his eyes always distant, when they focused at all. His mother had to force food on him, and even then he barely ate enough to stay alive. The doctor began to have concerned talks with his mother outside Axel's door when he visited.

They might as well have dragged him off and tried him for a witch too – Axel didn't care. Maybe he would make a mistake in the Lord's Prayer on purpose…maybe.

If it would give him a way to be with Roxas again…

If Axel looked out the window, he'd see Roxas in the street. When he went to Mass again, once he was well enough, he saw Roxas out of the corner of his eye constantly. And in moments of quiet, he _knew_ he could sometimes hear Roxas calling his name.

But the boy was never there, and the warm touch and the familiar scent were only felt in his dreams.

~o~

April had begun while Axel slept, and April was half gone before he stepped outside to feel the freshening spring air on his face. It was still cold, and often still rainy, but the razor edge of winter had snapped during his illness, and the promise of spring was lacing its way through the air.

It reminded Axel that summer was coming. It added new twists of agony to the hollow pain in his chest.

The first of May and the accompanying May Day celebration were about a week away when Axel's dreams took a new turn.

He was with Roxas, as always. They were in the loft of Roxas' house, playing some game that escaped his attention. Summer sun was beaming through the windows, and the sounds of Roxas' siblings running and playing downstairs mingled with the drifting sounds of village life outside.

He was just drinking in the scent and the sight of his best friend…and then suddenly things changed.

Without warning or reason, they were in his house, in his room, and the golden-bright sunbeams faded rapidly into silvery moonbeams as the light vanished, leaving the room dark. Axel would have barely noticed the change, except that he couldn't see Roxas as well anymore. Was that him…standing halfway across the room?

"Roxas?" Axel squinted in his dream, trying to make sure.

The figure moved forward, and he relaxed. It was Roxas' walk, Roxas' posture, and that…that was the familiar scent reaching him again now.

Then Roxas stepped into the moonlight, and Axel caught his breath.

He was still smiling, but it wasn't the wide, carefree, laughing smile anymore. It was a small, knowing, intentional smile. Sweet and fond, as Roxas looked at Axel, but not a terribly familiar expression. To add to the strangeness, Roxas' blue eyes sparkled with intense excitement, while the rest of him seemed so calm.

But Axel noticed all this in passing, to remember later. As he gazed at Roxas, eyes widening, all he could think was, _How could I have never noticed he was this beautiful?_

Where his face had been haggard and pale, now it was soft and smooth, healthier and more delicate than Axel ever remembered it being. There was a touch of rosy color to his lovely cheeks, and the effect was overwhelmingly alluring. His lips seemed darker and perhaps a little fuller than before, but still perfectly suited to his face. His eyes were brighter, more entrancing, and his hair looked so soft that Axel yearned to touch it.

And when Roxas smiled, the curve of those lips drew Axel's eyes irresistibly, until the redhead was straining to reach out to Roxas, not thinking or even knowing what he wanted to do, only knowing that he wanted to be…_closer_.

But he couldn't move. A wretched dream paralysis had come over him, so that no matter how he reached for Roxas, he couldn't close the distance. When he couldn't advance toward Roxas, Axel began to feel a maddening need for Roxas to come toward _him_.

_Come closer,_ his mind begged desperately, _Come here, closer, closer to me…please, please…Roxas…_

As if he heard Axel's thoughts, Roxas' smile grew just perceptibly…and he slowly turned and placed one foot forward – a single step closer to the bed and Axel.

It was agony and ecstasy – a taste, a gift, but not nearly enough.

But Roxas didn't stop or withdraw. One gift at a time, he approached the bed where Axel lay, helpless, shivering with happiness and hope as Roxas drew near. Everything felt so real, even more so than his usual dreams. The sights, sounds, scent…touch. He could even feel the slight weight of the blanket he lay under, as if he'd been sleeping. And his whole being longed to feel Roxas' touch now. Another embrace, like before…yet Axel was certain that if Roxas embraced him now it would be a thousand times more perfect than ever.

When Roxas reached the bed – still agonizingly distant even as he stood so, so close – the blond leaned smoothly forward. One hand extended toward him, and Axel marveled for a moment how soft and perfect it looked…and yet it was Roxas' hand, absolutely.

And then Roxas touched him.

That hand, which was as soft as it looked, was laid gently against his cheek, and Roxas stayed there, cradling Axel's face, his fingers moving in the slightest brushes. His eyes – his bright, clear, thrilling blue eyes – locked with Axel's awed gaze and held him, body and soul.

Axel felt like his heart might burst out of his chest. Roxas was touching him, and it was incredible. He had no faint sense of being in a dream – only a powerful conviction that this was _real_.

"Roxas…" He breathed in wonder. The boy's face softened, the smile widening.

"Axel." It was only a murmur, but the sound of Roxas' voice resonated deep within his body. He felt…_possessed_ by it.

"Axel," Roxas spoke again as Axel's heart leapt, "I miss you."

_That_ gave Axel a jolt. Never in any of his dreams had there been even a hint that Roxas was gone now. Only the long, wordless embraces might have been his mind silently recognizing the truth. This was entirely different. It was like Roxas was…back from the dead. Or an angel, visiting him from Heaven?

It didn't matter why or how, as Axel's body shook with a sob of longing. He couldn't even force words around the pain and tears, even though he was filled with so many things he wanted to say, to tell Roxas. Even just to beg him to come back…or to stay…or to take Axel away with him if he had to go again…

But Roxas was continuing. "I'm lonely without you, Axel. I want to see you again. Will you let me come and see you?"

"Yes!" he gasped. "Yes, yes, yes, _yes!_" Roxas smiled, nodding, and before Axel could say more – pour out his longing in words, beg Roxas to come to him and stay forever – the blond was gently withdrawing.

The loss of that touch was hell, and Axel wept again.

But as Roxas stepped back into the darkness, he was promising, "I will return, then. I will come and see you soon."

Blackness surrounded him, and Axel couldn't see Roxas anymore. He slept without dreaming for the rest of the night.

~o~

In the tiny village of Bistritz, May Day, like all celebrations, was small and traditional, pleasant and quaint. The villagers enjoyed their holiday and upheld the traditions, and the air was filled with the festive atmosphere that hovers around celebrations whether big or small, wherever populations of humanity are to be found. The chilly climate even cooperated this year by providing a sunny day, slightly warming the still-cold spring air.

Axel came out, but not for long. He walked from one end of the town to the other, slowly, eyes searching and straining among the people endlessly, and then he vanished into his home again.

Roxas hadn't reappeared. Every moment had been torture since that dream, for Axel felt irrationally certain every moment the beautiful blond was about to appear before him, yet every moment came and went, and he didn't. What was worse, even the usual dreams of Roxas had suddenly faded. He still dreamt them, but they felt so pale and distant now, so soundless and scentless and touchless, so brief and unsatisfying. He wanted to see Roxas again, like he had that night a week ago. He _needed_ Roxas to keep his promise and come.

If it had even happened. Axel tortured himself all the more with doubts. Had it been only another dream, an illusion that had already evaporated forever? The longer he waited, the more his mind believed that is _had_ to be…and yet his heart couldn't accept it. His cheek remembered the touch – he could still feel Roxas' hand there, all he had to do was close his eyes! It had been so real, and so _exactly_ what he was dying for, that Axel couldn't convince himself that it had been just another dream.

He couldn't let go.

The day lengthened and the sun set, the air growing colder again as the warm light faded. Clouds began to roll in, promising more spring rain during the night or tomorrow. The village gathered around their bonfire – celebrations like this were the only occasions when people would be out after dark, and even then they gathered closely together and were careful not to lose track of even one small child.

Axel could hear the music in the village square as he paced his room. He felt restless, anxious. His mother had tried to persuade him to come down again, but he'd been unable to stomach the thought of being surrounded by so many people who weren't Roxas. Instead, he remained alone, his family out for the time being. He paced, and he jumped at every small sound, every rattle and creek of the house and wind outside, his heart stopping each time in hope that Roxas had come.

But it was only the floorboards or the shutters being rattled by the wind as the storm approached, and night fell around him until the room was as pitch black as the world outside. Axel gave up pacing after stubbing his toe three times in a row.

Sitting on his bed, his eyes adjusted as the moon rose, barely visible between the clouds that crowded thicker and thicker into the sky. His thoughts were slowly turning to despair as Roxas still didn't come. He was beginning to remember the fact that he'd never fully accepted – Roxas was dead.

Hopelessly, Axel lay back and closed his eyes, trying to shut out the familiar pain.

~o~

_Axel, get up._

A voice in the darkness…no sight, no sense, only the voice. He wasn't dreaming of anything. It was like…hearing something in his sleep.

_Axel. Rise, and open the window._

His eyes fluttered open, taking in his dark room, barely lit by concealed moonlight. Dazed, almost sleepwalking, Axel rose and stepped over to the window. He hesitated a moment, his hands on the sash. Why was he doing this, again?

But his mind's uncertainly was ignored as his hands moved to obey, unlatching the shutters and opening the window. The night air was cold and the wind was gusting fitfully, the sky almost filled with clouds, now. Dreamily, Axel stood still, waiting.

_May I come in?_ He could almost swear he heard a twist of a smile in the voice that now echoed in his mind, now whisked away on the night breeze.

"Yes," Axel's tense voice rasped, "Come in…"

At once, the fitful wind seemed to turn, for a strong gust struck him directly in the face. The cold surrounded and embraced him, passing him and chilling the room.

And then the voice spoke again, and this time it wasn't echoing or disembodied. It was real, and soft, and coming from behind him.

"It's good to see you again, Axel."

Green eyes wide with shock and chest heaving for breaths of sobering, cold air, Axel slowly turned to face the voice.

Roxas.

He looked like he had in the dream a week ago – unbelievably beautiful, calm, and quietly smiling, his eyes burning with a dazzling energy and light. Axel swallowed, hard.

"Roxas…" He couldn't speak above a whisper. "Are you real? Is this…a dream?"

The angelic face smiled even more warmly at him, and Roxas gently shook his head. "If you think I am a dream, Axel, come here and touch me. See for yourself how real I am."

He didn't even hesitate. Trembling with unbearable hope, as well as fear that Roxas would disappear again, he stepped shakily forward, reaching for his best friend.

His hands connected with solid shoulders, and Roxas continued as if he hadn't paused. "Feel for yourself…" Axel's hands moved over the slender arms and upward. "Feel my warmth…" Axel touched the slender neck, tracing up to cheeks that were truly even softer than they looked. "Feel me here, breathing…" One of his hands moved, the fingers hovering over Roxas' lips as the boy breathed out gently, the warm air caressing his fingertips and igniting his whole body with the thrill it brought. Roxas smiled again. "Touch me to your heart's content. I won't vanish."

Axel broke with a sob. "Roxas!" His arms wrapped around the smaller young man and crushed him against Axel's body. Gulping in Roxas-scented air between gut-wrenching sobs of relief, Axel struggled to speak.

"They…th-they all told me you were dead…but I couldn't believe them, Roxas, I _knew_ you c-couldn't be…couldn't be…a-and now you're here, and you're alive…" He was touching Roxas' face again, examining him rapidly to make sure. "You are, aren't you? This is real, and you're alive?"

It surprised him a bit when Roxas stifled a snort of laughter. Then, seeming to find something too funny to suppress, Roxas began to laugh aloud, covering his mouth as his eyes squeezed nearly shut and amusement shook his small frame.

Confused, Axel asked through an uncertain smile, "Wh-what's funny?"

The blond took several deep breaths, calming his laughter to chuckles. Then, when his voice was steady again and the humor restrained – barely – to his eyes alone, Roxas sighed. Reaching forward, his hands and forearms pressed against Axel's chest, slowly gliding up to wrap around his neck and pull the redhead close.

"Oh Axel," He breathed, grinning, and leaned up, his smiling voice a whisper right by Axel's ear. "Yes…this is _real_."

And Axel ignored the glimpse he'd gotten of sharper-than-ever white teeth and just sighed, pulling Roxas close again in a contented embrace. He didn't care about such stupid little details anyway; they'd never meant anything.

It was many slow, even heartbeats before the two parted, Axel moving them to sit together on his bed, and beginning to ask with wide, curious eyes, "Tell me what happened then? How have you lived, and where have you been this past month? You will stay here, now, won't you?"

Roxas' smile became slightly gentle – patient. "I cannot stay here Axel. If the villagers knew, they would only come against me again. Perhaps with even more deadly violence than before." Axel's face fell, remembering, as he realized the truth of Roxas' words. "You must make sure never to tell anyone that you have seen me, Axel."

"But…are you all right? Where will you live?" He couldn't bear the thought of Roxas scraping together a meager survival in the mountains, unsheltered, barely able to find food…

As if understanding his thoughts, Roxas patted Axel's cheek gently. The touch sent his heart pounding against his ribcage like a hammer beating over the anvil. He stared into sparkling blue eyes as his friend seemed to ponder, with a slow smile, what he should reveal.

At last, very slowly, he answered. "I've been living at the castle, Axel."

His blood ran cold in the wake of the shiver that crawled down his spine. "Wh-what?" He gasped in fear. "You can't be…"

"Shhh," the tips of Roxas' fingers gently pressed his lips. "It's all right, Axel. Don't panic." Then he sighed, gazing at the wide-eyed redhead fondly. "Poor Axel. There are so many things you don't understand yet. It must be so hard for you."

"Don't understand wha…" Axel began to ask, then trailed off when Roxas lifted one of his hands, cradling his silken cheek against the palm, eyes closed sweetly for a blissful moment.

When they opened again, Axel gulped. A glint of purpose had entered them, and Roxas rose smoothly, sliding one knee and then another onto the bed on either side of Axel's legs – straddling his lap swiftly and fluidly.

Heart jumping in elation and confusion, Axel felt two hands on his face, directing his gaze back to piercing blue. Roxas' voice dropped to a low murmur, and Axel could feel the warm breath against his lips, they were so close.

"I have many things to explain to you, Axel. But it may take a little while. Will you promise to trust me, for now?"

He almost hadn't heard the question. His eyes had slipped down to those perfect lips, and he was practically hypnotized by them. He was struggling with a sudden, overpowering desire to…taste them? A strange thought…

"Y-yes…" He struggled to focus on the conversation – words, not lips. Words, not lips! "I…I've always trusted you, Roxas. I could never doubt you."

A warm caress over his face, fingers threading back into his hair as Roxas smiled approvingly. "I have a few things to teach you, as well…"

"If…if you say so…then I won't resist…" Indeed, Axel was sure there was no way he _could_. Something about Roxas now was just so magnetic, so impossible to refuse.

Again, that broad smile, and this time Axel wavered upon seeing the teeth. They really were unnaturally long and sharp now. Perhaps it was from the strange illness Roxas had contracted before…before everything. At least he was no longer weak and feverish, so it must be all right…

Roxas was humming, amused. "Mmmm, don't tempt me. We must go carefully so as not to frighten you…" He was almost whispering to himself. "We have a little time, before I need to…"

Brows furrowing, Axel was about to ask what Roxas meant, when the blond focused on him again. At once, the penetrating stare halted him.

"Well," Roxas purred. "For now, let me give you a taste…before I go."

Axel opened his mouth to protest…and froze as warm, full lips sealed over his own.

Deep and slow, but insistently, Roxas kissed him. His mind was paralyzed in shock…but his heart was suddenly ready to burst with happiness. And his body…

He felt his mouth entered smoothly, passion and intensity building between them as Roxas caressed and possessed him. His skin burned over his whole body, his muscles were tense with excitement, and Roxas seemed to know perfectly what he was causing within Axel. His advances were timed exactly to match the highest point of each wave of ecstasy flooding him, so that he was driven higher and further with each thudding heartbeat, each moment in Roxas' arms.

He had never known that he wanted this…but oh, how he wanted it now.

When Roxas released him, he was trembling violently, gasping for breath, dizzy…and he could only stare as his best friend slowly licked soft, wondrously delicious lips, and then sweetly touched them to the tip of his nose.

"Sleep now, Axel." The whisper seemed to come from all around him, and blackness immediately began to close in. "Sleep…I will come again tomorrow night."

Unable to fight the sudden darkness, Axel fell wordlessly into a deep sleep.

~o~

The next day, Axel ate his meals, worked all day at the forge, and came home in the pouring rain. He was more attentive, answered when spoken to, and in all ways seemed to have improved vastly overnight. He was not, of course, back to his usual self – for especially, he had always been a rather relaxed person, and now he was visibly tense, seeming to strain his senses at times for no reason – yet it was more improvement in one night than he'd shown in two weeks. His mother was greatly encouraged. The doctor was greatly relieved. The town, which had, in truth, been turning a wary eye in his direction, relaxed quite a bit at seeing him finally improve.

Axel was desperate for night to come, so much so that every moment of daylight became his loathed enemy.

He no longer questioned or doubted. That had been no dream. He would never, ever have dreamed _that_. Indeed, he had no idea why Roxas had _done_ that, but he was willing to wait and trust and understand later. His rational side was ready to go mad with trying to understand what had happened, and his conscience was whimpering, fearful that what Roxas had done was a sin. But most of him didn't care. He had Roxas back, and though he was confused by what his best friend had done…he felt he would die if Roxas didn't come back and do it again. Soon.

When night finally came, he bid his family good rest as soon as it was dark, saying that he was rather tried from a full day. Released to his room – after a warm, understanding embrace from his mother – Axel shut himself in, dousing the candle. His window was unlatched, but not quite open to the cold rain. To keep himself from pacing, he sat on his bed, fidgeting. He had no idea what to do with himself, or when Roxas would come.

Impatient to the point of becoming almost frantic, Axel struggled to calm himself. He shut his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to clear away the worries and the nagging doubts that came swarming over him. When Roxas came, it would be all right. He could…he could ask Roxas some questions, clear things up and set his mind at ease a bit.

"Axel…" A breathy whisper right in his ear made him jump. At the same time, he felt weight on the bed behind him as he caught Roxas' scent. He wanted to turn at once and face his friend, but two hands came from behind, under his arms, and laid flat against his chest. Axel felt himself held tightly against the body behind him, and he submitted, relaxing even as his heart pounded wildly.

"Roxas…you really came." His relieved smile could be heard in his voice, he was sure.

"Of course," Roxas murmured in his ear again, "I promised, didn't I? Besides, I want to see you so much…"

Warm breath against his ear and neck made Axel shudder deliciously, but he struggled to concentrate. He…he needed to talk to Roxas…about things.

"Ah, Roxas? You said you're living at the castle…but what about the monster…?" He glanced around the room, realizing something. "And how did you even get in here?"

A soft chuckle answered him, and then his heart stopped for a moment as Roxas placed a sweet kiss against his cheek. He could still feel the boy's lips there as he answered.

"I can do things now that I couldn't before, Axel. And the monster…well, you may not understand, but he really isn't a monster."

"What?" He gasped, a trickle of horror entering his veins. How could Roxas say such a thing?

"Shhh…I know you can't believe it right away, but he's really quite the gentleman, in his own way. He's been…teaching me things." The hands on Axel's chest began to move, stroking slowly. "But even with him, I was so lonely for you…"

Axel swallowed, feeling his thoughts slipping away. "What…what kind of…things?"

"Mmmm," Roxas chuckled again, moving to bury his face in Axel's hair and inhale deeply. "Do you want to know? I will show you, soon. Don't worry…they are _good_ things." Suddenly, Axel felt Roxas move. The hands stopped stroking his chest and left him as the boy shifted behind him. Finally free to turn, Axel caught his breath as he watched Roxas lie down on the bed. He was struck again by his friend's incredible beauty. It mesmerized him all over again.

And Roxas was smiling. "I showed you something last night…do you remember what it was?" His teasing smile widened as he looked up to Axel from the pillow, hands relaxed on either side of his head.

His whole body tingling, Axel could only nod, wide-eyed.

Blue eyes narrowed, lids dropping as Roxas' voice did, returning to a whisper. "Come," he breathed, "show me what you remember."

He didn't think. He couldn't. He could barely _breathe_ as he leaned forward. His hands reached compulsively for Roxas', and their fingers knitting together felt like balm on his ragged soul – a perfect fit.

Only inches away from curling, seductive lips, Axel hesitated, swallowing nervously. His stomach was churning so fearfully…but Roxas' barely-open eyes calmly regarded him, smiling gently, drawing him in like his friend held a web of invisible iron threads wound around his heart. And with a tiny twist at the corner of his mouth…he tugged those threads hard.

Axel couldn't resist. Didn't want to try.

Their lips joining perfectly soothed him even more than when their hands had met. All the coils of fear in Axel unwound and vanished in a moment as warm, soft lips moved against his. There was no room for fear now, anyway – not in the face of the powerful, building heat that was taking over him.

Unthinking, obeying the fire, he pressed closer, pressed deeper. And Roxas relented, never fighting him, but welcoming his advances. It was so different from last night…and he had a momentary, nagging thought that he probably wasn't doing everything right, but that thought evaporated at the sound of a soft, pleasured moan from Roxas.

A gut-clenching fire overwhelmed him at that, and Axel squeezed their hands together tighter as he began to move faster, losing his mind in a fog of bliss as he kissed Roxas. As Roxas kissed him. As their tongues slid together, as their lips tangled, as their mouths sucked in the most enticing way.

He would never have pulled back…but the throbbing heat in his body began to grow suddenly far too intense and focused, until he broke away with a strangled grunt as a spike of pain shot through him from one particularly strong pulse of heat. He was panting heavily, and it surprised him to see that he was now bridged over Roxas – Axel couldn't remember moving there. Yet he couldn't spare much thought for that…not when he looked at Roxas, so achingly beautiful. Not when his body trembled and hurt with a need that almost frightened him.

"Mmmm," Roxas smiled, looking perfectly relaxed. "You learn quickly, Axel. I think you're ready for something new." Then he glanced down the plane of Axel's body above him, and the redhead felt his face heat up, mortified. Roxas, however, just grinned. "Actually, it looks like you're more than ready. Sorry to keep you waiting." He chuckled.

"What do you mea-_aaahhh!_" Axel had been about to ask when one of Roxas' hands had slipped from his and snaked down confidently between their bodies. And where that hand went…and what it touched…

"You'll like this lesson, too," Roxas whispered, moving his hand in a slow stroke, pressing firmly but not too tight.

"Rox-Roxas…what…is this…?" He was struggling to speak, desperate to understand…but the friction was too perfect, too…too _good_. Nothing within him wanted to fight it.

A few strokes later Roxas shifted, his hand releasing a moment – to Axel's agony – and then slipping under fabric and touching him directly. His arms trembled and gave out, Axel falling onto his elbows, his face buried in Roxas' shoulder, in Roxas' scent. There was a voice in his ear, murmuring, humming, speaking…but he didn't know what it said, only that the tone was dripping with pleasure and so, so soothing.

Roxas' hand moved faster, squeezed tighter.

Axel's hips jerked uncontrollably into the pressure that held him.

It was hot…he felt himself suffocating, sweating, dying, writhing. He was vaguely aware that he was moaning constantly, his voice muffled against Roxas.

When the climax came, a spike of unbearable tension before the release, he bit down frantically on Roxas' shoulder as spasms wracked his body. Then he lost track of everything.

When he opened his eyes again, Axel was lying on his back. He felt melted, spent…and Roxas was leaning over him…

Warm lips pressed his again, and a whisper surrounded him again.

"Good…good, Axel. Sleep now…you've done well. Tomorrow night…"

"Roxas…" he breathed, trying to reach for the blond, failing as his consciousness slipped away.

~o~

The dreary day passed, colorless and flavorless, and Axel barely noticed the world around him. If people shot him worried looks, he didn't feel them. If those nearest him grew tense with renewed suspicion, he didn't notice. Nothing mattered. He waited for night.

Night came, and so did Roxas. Axel was breathless, all questions forgotten at once. How could he think of _talking_ when such precious beauty touched him, pushed him gently back onto the bed, and leaned down to kiss him with lips of fire? He couldn't think of anything but _More, more, more!_ And there _was_ more, as Roxas kissed him, touched him and pleasured him, made him helpless with desire.

His lips were released with a wet sound, and Axel cracked his eyes open to see Roxas pause a moment, gazing intensely at his…neck? The pupils, usually so narrow – Axel had ceased to be afraid of their slitted shape – were now blown, dilated and round, dark and alive. Then he lost sight of them, his eyes slipping closed again as Roxas lowered his head and ran a hot tongue up the side of his throat. He gasped, his body jerking and tensing, and Roxas began to kiss him.

Forceful, messy kisses covered his neck, sucking pressure seeming to insinuate so much more…though what, Axel had no idea. Between Roxas' mouth on his neck and his slow, stroking hand, Axel could do nothing but submit to the onslaught of pleasure until it broke his restraint and burst out of him.

Roxas drew back, and Axel could see through his daze that the usually so calm blond was panting hard. His eyes were even larger than before, his lips were wet and parted, and his expression was strained. He looked…_hungry_. He was even shaking as he gasped for air, and Axel thought he heard Roxas murmuring to himself, "Not yet…wait…soon…"

Then Roxas cast sleep over him like a spell again – Axel almost groaned in agony, hating the end, trying to fight it – and faded into the dark. Axel's last, lingering thought was to wonder what it was Roxas wanted so much.

He shivered, hoping the blond would have his desire…soon.

~o~

Bistritz was alive with curiosity on the fourth of May. An Englishman had arrived late in the night and stayed at the inn. Though it was a cold, dark, rainy day, he was now preparing to depart. The whispered rumors were that he was headed, of all places, to the _castle!_

Axel didn't care for the news of the Englishman – he was too anxious for the daylight to hurry and fade to darkness again – but the rumor of the young man traveling to the _castle_ caught his attention. The castle. Where the monster was. And…Roxas.

He wasn't the only one who found himself idling in the streets that day, trying to look busy with nothing in spite of the weather, hovering nearer and nearer to the coach as it prepared to depart for the nearby town of Bukovina. Axel heard the coachman murmuring a complaint to the innkeeper about having to take the Englishman so near the castle – for it lay off the road between the two towns – and Axel even thought he heard that a carriage was to meet them at the Borgo Pass and take the Englishman to the castle from there. Both men crossed themselves fearfully at such a notion.

Axel lingered long enough to catch sight of the Englishman, whose name, he heard, was Harker. He even heard the mistress of the inn, who was growing rather upset, trying to warn the young fool about the castle. She was trying to explain to him that it was the Eve of St. George's Day, though he didn't seem to care.

Nor did Axel. He remembered that this day was said to be the most evil day on their calendar; he and Roxas had always been deliciously frightened of this day as children, and always spent the night huddled together, telling ghost stories and making themselves even more afraid.

Roxas…

He turned away, heading home. He cared nothing about the man Harker…his mind was only filled with Roxas. The only thought he could spare for the stranger was to wonder if the man going to the castle had anything to do with Roxas…and he fervently hoped not.

Roxas didn't need a foreign guest. He was coming back to Axel tonight, wasn't he? He was coming. He was…he was _Axel's_. The redhead couldn't tolerate the thought of sharing his best friend with anyone else.

His eyes widened in surprise – the violence of his jealousy suddenly struck him as so strange… Why should he feel so possessive of Roxas?

_Why should I let anyone else have him? They tried to kill him…_

But why should he so distrust and dislike the foreigner…who was a rather attractive young man, come to think of it?

_What does Roxas want him for? Is it something I can't give him?_

_That_, Axel would not tolerate. Whatever Roxas wanted – whatever he'd seemed so desperate for last night – _Axel_ could provide. And he _would_. He wouldn't let Roxas go to anyone else.

Roxas belonged to _him_.

~o~

He waited by the window, staring into the night. The minutes felt like hours, until finally, Axel thought that perhaps Roxas would appear if he closed his eyes. The blond always seemed to arrive when he wasn't looking…

He shut them tight and whispered into the night, "Roxas…"

Hands gripped his shoulders from behind and spun him, throwing him back against the wall by the window. Neither of them hesitated.

The kiss was wild, all control abandoned from the very beginning as Roxas pressed into him so that Axel could feel every inch of the blond's body with all of his own. Fingers in his hair pulled down, dragging him deeper into the burning mouth until everything within him was screaming for Roxas, _Roxas! More, more Roxas!_

Yet Roxas released him with a whimper, and Axel drank in the perfect face again, the expression just like last night, blown, wide eyes and straining _need_ in every shadow on his face. Roxas was softly moaning, "Nnn…_hungry_…"

Struggling for breath, Axel felt a renewed stab of jealousy at the thought of anyone else seeing Roxas like this. His voice husky and unsteady, he demanded, "Who was that foreigner that went to the castle today? What did you want him for?"

Roxas blinked, surprised. "Me? That foreigner is not _mine_…" Then his face relaxed, and he laughed shortly, relaxing against Axel. "Axel, Axel. That man is _his_ guest. And _he_ has no time for me, now that his long-awaited Englishman is here."

Not at all comforted, Axel frowned. The boiling jealousy inside him took a new direction. "How would _he_ spend his time with you, when he wasn't busy?"

The lovely little blond just smiled, a slightly wicked twist to his mouth. "I told you…he taught me things. And now his lessons are done, and he's leaving soon, so _you _are the only one I have left." Axel knew he shouldn't be calmed by such a vague response, but the words Roxas spoke shivered through him _so_ satisfyingly. He was Roxas' only one. And Roxas was his.

And Roxas was leading him by the hand toward the bed. His heart jumped, warmth already spreading through him…

"But now, you see, the time has come." The blond was breathing the words, staring at him, guiding him to lie down with tantalizing little touches. "Now I need more from you. You won't push me away, will you, Axel?" Tender fingers stroked down his cheek as Axel lay back, worshipping Roxas with his eyes.

"No…" he whispered, shaking his head slightly, helplessly, as Roxas leaned slowly forward, eyes locked with his own. "I won't…I'll gladly…give you everything…"

The beautiful boy purred happily, lying down slowly on top of Axel. The redhead could feel his weight resting comfortably on him, and he silently watched Roxas lower his head. He was tense, waiting…_needing_, though he didn't know what. And Roxas…

Soft lips touched his throat in a sweet kiss. Axel shivered, his heart almost too loud in his ears, pounding with his only thought – _Hurry. Hurry. Hurry. Hurry._

Then pain.

Sharp, deep, driving into him, _pain pain pain_. He choked and cried out and clutched Roxas tightly. The first stab faded to a throbbing ache as Roxas paused, then Axel tensed again as the boy withdrew.

At once, that hot mouth was sealed over the wound, and Axel groaned as he felt sucking pressure. He was confused, frightened, and struggling not to cry…yet Roxas' mouth on him felt so good, so _wonderful_, so soothing and pleasuring and so exactly what he wanted that he couldn't resist. Axel stopped thinking entirely and just relaxed, drifting in a warm haze of ecstasy in Roxas' arms.

He felt lightheaded when Roxas finally stopped, but he turned to try to look at the boy anyway. Hands stopped him, and a low voice out of his line of vision spoke. "No Axel. You mustn't look, tonight. This will frighten you. Shut your eyes." Confused, Axel obeyed, and his head was turned away for him. Then he felt pressure and moving hands and a binding feeling around his neck. Roxas was mumbling, "I don't care _what_ he says, it's just plain responsible to be careful. And I'm not going to be careless, not with you…"

Then a gentle hand was brushing his clammy brow as Roxas whispered nearby, "Thank you, Axel. Sorry, but you need to sleep now. Try not to be frightened tomorrow. I'll come again."

He sighed, already prepared for the encroaching blackness.

~o~

He understood when he saw his neck in the morning.

The mark. Just like Roxas' had been, only his looked fresher, less…used. Two red spots on his neck, which Roxas had hidden with a bandage, for obvious reasons. He would be burned for a witch if anyone saw this.

And that meant…Roxas was a monster.

He'd never been a witch. The monster's mark didn't make one a witch, they made one a monster as well. And now Roxas was one…and…was Axel one too? He had never believed that Roxas had done anything wrong, but…had Roxas accepted the monster the way Axel had accepted Roxas?

The thought was a knife in his stomach until he remembered the trial. No. No, Roxas' terror and fear had been genuine. The blond had been innocent; he must not have known what had happened. At least, Axel had been positive at the time…and he was still sure that he hadn't been mistaken in understanding his best friend.

Yet even if Roxas had been unaware, wasn't he a monster himself, now? And if he was attacking Axel…the redhead would have to be careful. The villagers would be all too willing to burn him. He felt cold at that thought, shuddering in fear. He was…he was damned now, wasn't he? What would become of him? Would he die? Would he have to flee his home for the terrifying castle?

Nearly panicking, Roxas' voice came into his mind. _"Try not to be frightened…"_ Roxas had been thinking of this…

_That's right_, he thought. _I chose to trust him. _Axel took a deep, steadying breath, and put his fear firmly aside. Whatever was happening to him, he had Roxas. And Roxas wouldn't harm him. Roxas…_wanted_ him. Wanted to stay with him. Nothing else mattered.

Axel wore a high-collared shirt over the bandage that day.

~o~

When the blond returned that night, he took Axel in his arms at once. But it was different this time – not passionate, but tender and comforting. Roxas sat beside him and ran calming fingers through his hair.

Without prelude, he began to murmur, "I know you must doubt me, now. You must be afraid. This isn't the way _he_ does it, and I understand his reasons. But _he_ doesn't keep them. He doesn't care what happens to them, in the end. And I don't feel that way about you, Axel. I want to keep you for my own, forever. I don't want to be alone like that…I know you must think horrible thoughts about me now, but I cannot do anything else. Just wait a little while, and it will all make sense…just trust me, please…"

Axel's heart melted. In spite of everything, this was Roxas. _His_ Roxas. His best friend for his whole life. He couldn't fear or hate him. And…the words struck a chord.

He didn't want to be alone either. When he'd thought they were separated…it had nearly driven him insane. Axel…couldn't bear that again. He needed to be with Roxas.

Axel understood now. He…_loved_ Roxas.

"I trust you," he whispered into blond hair. "I trust you, Roxas. I won't be afraid, if you tell me not to be. I…I need to be with you, too."

Infinitely soft blue eyes with narrow pupils gazed at him, fingers caressing his features tenderly. "Don't be afraid, Axel," he whispered. "I'm going to take care of you."

Nodding, Axel smiled. "Yes, Roxas."

The kisses were sweet, this time. Sweet and filled with longing. Roxas' hands were gentle, unwrapping the bandage, and the slow penetration that reopened his wound didn't hurt nearly as much as the first time. And Roxas drank slowly, hands roaming tenderly, soothing Axel through the strange discomfort…and then slowly igniting the pleasure that followed.

It was the most perfect feeling he had ever known. And this time, when Roxas had bound his throat again, oh, so gently, he didn't cast darkness over Axel, making him sleep. Instead, he lay down beside his best friend, curled up together warmly. It was just right – just like they had always spent St. George's Eve as children…and Axel wasn't even afraid to see his own blood dripping from Roxas' lips.

~o~

For six days, Axel hid the mark and tried to act normally, going to his apprenticeship and speaking more freely with people. For six days, he watched his own face carefully, hoping the pallor wasn't too noticeable. By the end of the week, his pupils seemed a little thinner – his teeth, too. He tried not to look people in the eyes. Tried not to open his mouth too far.

For five nights, Roxas came to him in the dark. They held one another, and kissed, and touched, and Roxas…drank from him. In the dark, he felt nothing but bliss and soul-devouring ecstasy.

In the daylight, when he passed the chapel, he felt a prickle of fear. When his mother hugged him and took pains to feed him well, he felt a shiver of guilt. And when his friends greeted him cheerfully, he felt a pang of misery. Soon, he knew, he would have to leave them. He had already betrayed them.

Yet…in the darkness of night, in Roxas' arms, nothing else mattered. He felt no regret.

On the sixth day, one of the men told a joke in the smithy that had everyone laughing uncontrollably, Axel included. He didn't notice the suddenly sober and alarmed stare one of the apprentices gave him.

On the sixth night, Roxas didn't touch him.

Axel reached for the boy, but Roxas stood still, gazing at him without even a trace of a smile. Uncertainty clenched at his heart as Axel frowned. "What's wrong, Roxas?"

"Axel…" The blond seemed so reluctant. "We've run out of time. Someone has accused you. I can hear the townsmen gathering. They are coming to take you. We must go."

"What?" He breathed, eyes wide. "Go? Accused? Some-someone accused me? But…"

"They saw the signs, Axel. It was almost time, anyway. I never meant to leave you here until they accused you. We must go to the castle, now, before they take you. The trial will be in daylight, and the execution will too. I cannot rescue you once the sun rises. By tomorrow night, you'll be dead."

"But to go to the castle…to go _now_…" Axel was so confused. It was too sudden! "And…dead? But won't I…"

"They will _burn_ you, Axel!" Roxas frowned, agitated. "They _always_ burn them. And yes, being burned to ashes in the daylight will kill you, as it has killed nearly all of _his_ in the past. That I escaped was a complete _accident_, owed entirely to the weather. You must come, Axel. This is our only chance."

Reeling, he tried to take in all that Roxas had said. A noise outside distracted him. Axel glanced out the window, and his blood froze at the sight of torchlight flickering over a small crowd gathering in front of the chapel, far down the street. They seemed to be discussing things, and a small group of them – probably the council – was forming apart. _So it's true_… His chest ached. He had known it was coming but…he wasn't prepared yet! The sting of knowing those he had grown up with were turning against him…

Axel swallowed. "If I hurry, I can say goodbye to my family…?"

A shake of the blond head. "They'll detain you, and I need every minute for this." Roxas advanced quickly, taking his hands and pulling him toward the bed. "I can't get you to the castle before dawn as you are, on foot. It's too far."

Frightened, he kept his feet, resisting being pulled to lie down. "The monster…"

A frustrated exhalation as Roxas stopped pulling. "He's _gone,_ Axel. He followed his foreigner to England, as he has long been planning to do. I was only waiting for them to go, and then a little longer, to give you time to lose your fear. But we're out of time, and I can't even have the luxury of making this easy for you. There's no time to be gentle. Come!"

Another glance outside showed him that the crowd had swelled. Why was this happening so suddenly? And what was going to happen now? He had no idea what Roxas had planned, and what did he mean, he couldn't be gentle? Was this going to…hurt?

Confusion and fear flooded him. Suddenly, hands on his face pulled his gaze down and sharp blue eyes pierced his own.

"I'm sorry, Axel, but you have to choose this. Now. I cannot change you against your will, and I don't have time to explain everything. You have to choose to trust me."

Blue eyes changed from firm to yearning. Roxas was softly pleading, "Axel, I beg you…trust me…"

Distant voices could be heard addressing the gathered townspeople.

But Axel didn't heed them. There was only Roxas. Axel surrendered.

Searching Roxas' eyes, he swallowed the fear. "Take me with you."

Roxas didn't hesitate, not even to force Axel to lie down. The bandage was shredded with one yank, and Roxas reached up, all his teeth sinking home at once, burying themselves in Axel's neck.

"_Ahhhhhh!_" He wavered under the pain, clutching Roxas for support as the blond quickly withdrew and began to suck, harder and faster than ever. Axel could feel himself drained rapidly, strength evaporating from his body and weakness washing over him as he lost blood. After only a few moments, his legs trembled and buckled, unable to support him anymore. He would have hit the floor, but Roxas was ready. Surprisingly strong arms held him up, lowering him carefully onto the nearby bed, Roxas never releasing his neck or pausing as he drank.

Axel felt faint. His heartbeat was slowing. His weak arms still clung to Roxas, crouching over him…but he couldn't feel much through them anymore, and soon, they too dropped away, limp. He felt cold…his vision was darkening…he felt…he felt himself…dying.

He didn't feel Roxas release him, didn't see the boy tear open his own wrist with sharp teeth. The warmth flowing down his throat didn't mean anything to him. His heart stopped.

And then…Axel opened his eyes.

Fire was inside him, fire and strength coursed through him, and Roxas was smiling at him, looking a little breathless, but so relieved and so, so beautiful.

"Roxas…" Axel breathed. Then he was silenced as the boy kissed him, deep and hard and quick, before letting go and pulling back, moving to help him stand.

As he rose to his feet, Axel felt as if the weight of something immense fell off of him. Something like…mortality. Whatever it was, he hadn't known how heavy it felt until it was gone.

Beaming, he gazed down at Roxas. The blue eyes that met his understood. And he could hear the townspeople now on their way, coming toward his house, but Axel didn't care. He understood now. And he was with Roxas. Forever.

Catching the smaller boy up in his arms, Axel kissed him with all the raw, carnal desire he'd never known was hidden deep within his soul. And Roxas kissed him back, and he knew now that all the kisses before, no matter how passionate, had been painfully restrained for Roxas. This…this kiss was held back by nothing.

Voices downstairs interrupted them, and they both growled in irritation, then laughed at each other's reactions. Axel had never felt such free happiness in a laugh before…but he didn't have time to dwell on it. Already, Roxas was pulling him to the window and throwing it open, wide.

"Come on!" He called back, one foot braced on the sill, and then…he jumped.

Axel gaped a moment, then rushed to the window to look for where Roxas had gone. He didn't see the blond boy…just a large bat flitting in the dark. He was confused for a moment…then Roxas' voice floated into his mind.

"You can change shape. Just jump, and think of a bat, and your instinct will do the rest. Then follow me!"

He heard heavy feet on the stairs…

Axel jumped.

The villagers found only an empty room, a few fresh spots of blood staining the floor and bed.

~o~

The castle wasn't bad at all, Axel decided. He found the architecture strangely appealing, if a little…large. But the darkness was comfortable and nice, and there were smaller wings, apparently, and smaller rooms. He needn't go into the oversized halls and such.

And there was Roxas.

Roxas filled the rooms with laughter as they raced around, exploring like little boys. The blond showed him where he'd been staying, and Axel loved the room at once. It was filled with Roxas' scent. Some of the other rooms weren't so nice – there was a strange scent lingering about in a few of them – but Roxas' was perfect.

And, just as Roxas had said, the castle was empty. It was all theirs.

"Of course," Roxas mused absently as Axel pushed his shirt open, moving down to mouth over the pale flesh pinned under him, "I don't really see us staying here forever. I think _he_ had the right idea, going to a new place. Fresh blood and all, and not so much local opposition. What do you think of France?" Blue eyes looked up from the bed, lazily innocent, but not quite able to fully hide the spark of passion as he watched Axel undress him.

The redhead snorted. "If you have time to think of France right now, I'm not doing a very good job." Regardless of his statement, the young man wore a knowing smirk, his hand cupping a bit of hard evidence to the contrary.

Roxas bit back his groan of pleasure and composed his face. "Yes, actually, you're terrible. I'm sorry to tell you this, but you should just give up now."

Nearly laughing aloud, Axel decided how to tease back. "Ah, you're right." He feigned sorrow and sat back, removing his hands. "I understand. I'll stop."

In spite of the joke, Roxas nearly snarled at the loss of contact. Axel felt himself suddenly gripped by the shoulders and pulled back down onto the blond, _hard_. "You're just young and inexperienced," Roxas argued. "But it's all right." He purred seductively against Axel's lips. "I'll teach you how to make me _scream_."

Their mouths connected, then parted as Axel chuckled. "You're a very patient teacher."

Roxas arched against him insistently. "I'll do anything to get the best possible lover."

Pausing, Axel met those blue eyes seriously. Lover. _Yes._ He understood.

"I'm glad you chose me, then." His voice was soft, and his eyes still intent.

Roxas matched his expression. "It could never have been anyone else. Since we were children…Axel…"

_Me too. I've always been in love with you._

Axel's face melted into a slow grin. "Well. Then I'll have to work _hard_…so that I don't disappoint." Roxas' matching grin and growl of desire seemed to approve of the idea as Axel's fingers got busy again.

"By the way," he spoke casually a moment later, pretending to ignore the delicious way Roxas was writhing and panting, "I think France is an excellent idea. We should leave immediately."

"Sorry," Roxas growled again, his own smirk sharp and stunningly alluring, "France will have to wait. You're going to be _very busy_ for the next few months." Axel felt a thrill run over his skin. "We can go in the fall." Roxas finally smiled again, wide and soft and perfect. "You promised to spend the summer with me…and _I_ get to choose what we do."

Axel hadn't known happiness like this existed.

"Yes, Roxas."

_The End…_

…_of the Beginning._

~o~

**Note to readers!** Hey guys! If you read this because you're into Axel and Roxas and that's pretty much it, well...thanks! I hope you liked it! :D But if you _also_ wonder if this Kurosora1984 lady has anything else to entertain you, and if you are even a little interested in _other_ guys getting their sexy romance on, check out my current original story on FP! Links in my profile! Thank you, dears! :D


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